Friday Round-Up: What I’ve Read This Week

Why Was This the Theme this Week?

For some reason, the theme of many of the blogs I follow seems to have been “Ministers and Moral Failure” this week. Here’s a few of the guys I keep up with:

• Pastor, author, and blogger Tim Challies wrote an insightful post on the unwritten rule that a ministry leader can return to public life a year after a moral failure. As he says, more often than not, a year is not long enough.
• Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, also wrote on ministers and moral failure in his straight-to-the-point post, “The Four Most Common Acts of Stupidity that Get Pastors Fired.“
• Finally (on this topic, at least) Chuck Lawless from Southeastern Seminary wrote about what his strategy would be for taking a ministry down in a post titled “If I Were The Devil.” (Side note– when your last name is Lawless, you should think twice about writing from the devil’s perspective. Just sayin’)

Should you read these if you aren’t a minister? Absolutely. As a layperson, you need to have your pastor’s back. Sometimes that means speaking common sense into his life if you see unhealthy patterns in the way he approaches ministry.

Tips for Sunday School Leaders

Not everything I came across this week was on the subject of moral failure in ministry. Here’s some great articles on leadership for Sunday School teachers and leaders:

• My former boss at LifeWay, Ken Braddy, wrote a great post this week on Sunday School and Small Groups Side By Side. I was privileged to attend a day-long training session with Ken and small group guru Rick Howerton on this topic a couple of years ago. It is a refreshing reminder that a church doesn’t have to choose either one model of ministry or the other.
• Arranging Your Room to be Guest Friendly This is a helpful, practical post from sundayschoolleader.com.
• Job Description: Sunday School Class Member Care Leader Other than the teaching of God’s Word, there is not a more important function of a Sunday School class than to minister and care for its members. One of my mentors in ministry always said, “People go where they know they’re prepared for and cared for.” Caring for your class is a crucial component of effective Sunday School Ministry.

Book Review: Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry

This short little book (only 91 pages) is part of the Questions Christians Ask series by The Good Book Company. Allberry, writing from the perspective of someone who deals with sam sex attraction, presents an uncompromising theological perspective (acting on homosexual feelings is a sin) but with compassion for the person who is struggling. It is well worth the day or two it would take you to read.

Just For Fun

ESPN Launches Fantasy Preaching Software Finally, this one just made me laugh. My nephew Brandon sent me this. Since both his uncles are pastors, he got a kick out of this article from The Babylon Bee (which, by the way, is THE go-to source for Christian satire on the web)